At least four Israelis have been killed and eight were injured when two men with a pistol, knives and axes attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue. Tensions in Jerusalem have risen in recent weeks, with two deadly attacks by Palestinian militants on pedestrians in the city and announcements by Israel of plans to build more settler homes in East Jerusalem. Rabbi Yehuda Glick – a leading campaigner – was shot and wounded last month by a Palestinian as he left a conference on Jewish claims to the Jerusalem holy site.
Jerusalem’s holiest site, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, comprises of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and is next to the Western Wall. The Western Wall, from the time of the second Jewish Biblical temple, is the holiest site where Jews can pray; the Dome of the Rock, where, according to Jewish tradition the Ark of the Covenant rested in the first temple, is the holiest site in Judaism.
One of the paramedics who attended the dead and wounded appeared to have arrived while the siege was still going on. The paramedic described one of the victims as drenched in blood after his chest had been repeatedly stabbed. Other eyewitnesses have described hearing gunshots and seeing police gathered at the entrance to the synagogue.
“There are four dead and six injured, among them two policemen,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
The Israeli prime minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, called the attack a “brutal murder of Jews who came to pray, ” and blamed both the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, for incitement he said had led to the attack. “This is the direct result of the incitement being led by Hamas and Abu Mazen, incitement which the international community irresponsibly ignores,” he said, according to a statement posted to his Facebook page. Netanyahu – who is to meet with his security chiefs on Tuesday afternoon – said Israel would “respond with a heavy hand” to the attack.